Pathways to Safety

Helping Families Stay Together Safely

In California, more than 90% of calls made to report child abuse or neglect don't actually qualify as such.

As an early intervention program for CPS, Pathways to Safety is only available when a family is referred to the Child Protective Services hotline. It's the first stop on a pathway toward positive change.

If you are concerned about a child or family in Monterey County, please call the CPS hotline: 1-800-606-6618 or 831-755-4661.

More Questions About Pathways to Safety?

Door to Hope supports a statewide initiative that works to keep children safe in their homes and out of the child welfare system. California calls the initiative Differential Response; Monterey County calls it Pathways to Safety and the families we serve call it everything from vital support to a life-changing blessing.

In California, more than 90% of calls made to report child abuse or neglect don't actually qualify as such. About one third of hotline referrals are re-referrals of the same families from the previous year. Often, the calls involve families facing financial, physical or emotional challenges. For example, a family might need food, afterschool childcare or professional therapy. Neighbors or teachers might notice:

Unsupervised children

Lack of school attendance or chronic tardiness

The home utilities have been shut off

Children constantly appear unhealthy, dirty and/or hungry

In these cases, the challenges might pose a threat to the welfare of the children, and ultimately to the family as a whole, but the situation doesn't warrant removing the children from their homes. (Left unaddressed, however, the children could come to harm and the family might get separated.)

Pathways to Safety is an early intervention initiative that addresses the underlying causes motivating a call to Child Protective Services (CPS). It offers support and resources to help families resolve their challenges. Pathways to Safety is based on the belief that if families get the services, support and solutions they need to overcome their challenges, they can keep their children safe and their family unit strong. It's also based on a belief that when communities work together, they can achieve more.

Door to Hope, in collaboration with the ACTION Council of Monterey County and Monterey County, Department of Social Services and other community partners, support Pathways to Safety by:

Connecting families to a Family Resource Specialist who can steer them to the community resources they need to achieve self-sufficiency.

Engaging with the family to build on their strengths and their self-identified concerns.

Each month in Monterey County, about 300 families get help from Pathways to Safety. Sometimes, these families simply need guidance to find a program that can help them. Many are unaware of the resources available to them.